BREAKING NEWSDonald Trump Fires Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Criticism Over Poor Handling of Jeffrey Epstein Files
Donald Trump confirmed the news on Truth Social.
April 2 2026, Published 1:43 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump has fired Attorney General Pam Bondi following her tumultuous 14-month run.
She will be replaced by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for the time being until a permanent decision is made, reports on Thursday, April 2, revealed.
"Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year," the president wrote in a Truth Social post. "We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future."
Why Was Pam Bondi Fired?
Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi.
While Trump had publicly praised her loyalty and stated she was doing a "good job," sources indicated he grew frustrated with her performance over the past several months.
Meanwhile, Trump and senior officials, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, reportedly complained that Bondi "completely whiffed" in her management of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Trump privately vented that the Justice Department under Bondi had not moved aggressively enough to prosecute his political opponents, such as former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In addition, the president had reportedly complained about Bondi's shortcomings as an effective communicator for the administration's priorities.
Pam Bondi Is Still Set to Testify Before the House Oversight Committee
The president referred to Pam Bondi as a 'loyal friend' in his Truth Social post.
Bondi is currently subpoenaed to testify before the House Oversight Committee on April 14 regarding the DOJ's investigation into Epstein.
Bondi's firing marks the second major Cabinet ouster of Trump's second term, following the recent removal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Simultaneously, Bondi is named as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit filed on March 31 by former FBI agents who claimed they were wrongfully terminated for their past work on investigations involving Trump.
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Countless Americans were unhappy with the way Pam Bondi handled the invesitgation into the Jeffrey Epstein files.
“Pam Bondi is a wonderful person, and she’s doing a good job,” Trump said through a spokesperson at the time.
Before the news broke, MS NOW reporter Ken Dilanian had said Bondi was in hot water.
"Pam Bondi is obviously in trouble, particularly on the hill over her handling of the Epstein files," he expressed, adding she hadn’t gone far enough in prosecuting Trump’s perceived enemies even though she had bent the Department of Justice to her will in a way no attorney general ever has.
Pam Bondi 'Set Herself Up to Fail'
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is temporarily taking over the position.
"She has fired civil servants at Trump’s direction, investigated Trump’s perceived enemies, and curbed enforcement actions disfavored by Trump allies," MS NOW reported.
"But that hasn’t shielded Bondi from blowback over her handling of the Epstein matter. After initially promising to release an Epstein 'client list,' stoking long-simmering conspiracy theories about the case, she released a statement that poured cold water on those theories, acknowledging that no such client list existed," they noted.
Dilanian said the AG was doomed from the start.
"Bondi set herself up to fail in the Epstein files," Dilanian continued. "She set false expectations."
